The X-Men have had a lot of ups and downs in their long history, sometimes being one of the top books in the comic industry and other times being on the verge of cancellation. For years, the team has combined fan-favorite characters with pulse-pounding action and drama, presenting some truly unique comic stories created by some of the top talents in the industry.

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There are a lot of X-Men stories to choose from, but some of them rise above the rest for a variety of reasons. They are the essential ones, the ones that every fan should read so they can enjoy the team to the fullest.

10 X-Men: Schism

X-Men Schism Cyclops vs Wolverine

X-Men: Schism, by writer Jason Aaron and artists Carlos Pacheco, Frank Cho, Daniel Acuna, Alan Davis, and Adam Kubert, takes place during the Utopia era of team when the mutant race was at their lowest ebb. A new Hellfire Club rears its ugly head and forces Cyclops to make some hard choices, ones Wolverine doesn't agree with.

Cyclops and Wolverine always had a contentious relationship but this story heats it up to a degree it's never been before. Jason Aaron does a great job with this one, ratcheting things up more and more. Working with some of Marvel's best artists at the time, this book looks gorgeous and tells a great story.

9 Uncanny X-Force: The Apocalypse Solution

Wolverine leading the first roster of the Uncanny X-Force

Uncanny X-Force: The Apocalypse Solution, by writer Rick Remender and artist Jerome Opena, sees Wolverine form a secret new X-Force team, consisting of Psylocke, Archangel, Fantomex, and Deadpool, after disbanding the old one. Their first mission- destroy the returned to life Apocalypse... but things aren't as simple as they seem.

Remender's Uncanny X-Force is one of the highlights of Marvel in the 2010s and this is the story that started it all. One of the best X-Force tales of all time, it highlights the black ops team of the X-Men and the hard choices they have to face, with the one made in this story having wide-ranging repercussions.

8 Uncanny X-Men: The Brood Saga

Uncanny X-Men: The Brood Saga, by writer Chris Claremont and artists Dave Cockrum, sees a celebration turn sour as the X-Men, celebrating with the Shi'Ar empress Lilandra, are attacked by her sister Deathbird and turned over to the Brood, terrible parasitic aliens. With the rest of the team incapacitated and implanted with Brood eggs, Wolverine has to save his friends.

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Definitely riffing off the classic movie Alien, this was a completely different type of X-Men tale. Melding horror and superhero action, it showcased a fan-favorite team of X-Men going up against a terrible new threat and introduced the Brood to the Marvel Universe.

7 Astonishing X-Men: Exogenetic

X-SENTINELS - Bio-Sentinel

Astonishing X-Men: Exogenetic, by writer Warren Ellis and artist Phil Jimenez, sees the X-Men attacked by an entirely new type of Sentinel, one that uses the dead bodies of mutants as their basis. Faced with this new threat, the X-Men have to scramble in a race against time, trying to find out how to stop these new Sentinels and who is behind it all.

Warren Ellis's Astonishing X-Men run was short but full of big ideas and killer action. Introducing a whole new dangerous iteration of the classic mutant-hunting machine, there's a lot to love about this story. Phil Jimenez's art is particularly good in this one, bringing the Bio-Sentinels to gruesome life wonderfully.

6 X-Men #30

An image of Cyclops and Jean kiss at their wedding.

X-Men #30, by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Andy Kubert, subverts the trope of comic book weddings. After years of being together, Cyclops and Jean Grey finally tie the knot. Usually, superhero weddings are affairs fraught with peril, but this one goes off with a hitch.

The premiere couple of the X-Men, fans had been waiting for years for these two to tie the knot. The comic is a genuinely heartwarming affair, filled with great characterization and killer art. The X-Men stories of this time were busy, often convoluted affairs but this single issue story represents a nice departure and a culmination of years of storytelling.

5 House Of X/Powers Of X

dawn of x: X-Men

House Of X/Powers Of X, by writer Jonathan Hickman and artists Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva, redefined the X-Men after years of editorial enforced stagnation. Charles Xavier is able to do something he was never able to do- with the help of Magneto, the X-Men, and the mutant island of Krakoa, he was able to start a nation for mutants. However, waiting in the wings is the new human group out to destroy mutants and an ally with a secret that changes everything.

House Of X/Powers Of X serves as a set-up for the modern iteration of the X-Men. The book took a franchise that had been woefully underserved in recent years and brought it back to prominence, raising questions and playing out revelations that left readers begging for more.

4 The Age Of Apocalypse

Age of Apocalypse blink

The Age Of Apocalypse, by more writers and artists than one can shake a stick at, takes place in an alternate timeline that was created when Xavier's son Legion went back in time to kill Magneto but felled his father instead. Because of this divergence, Apocalypse was able to take over the United States, culling the human population and preparing to strike at the last remnants of humanity in Europe. Standing against him is a ragtag group of X-Men led by Magneto.

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The Age Of Apocalypse is a giant story, taking place over ten books but it's one of the highlights of '90s X-Men comics and a story that every fan should experience.

3 X-Men: Mutant Genesis

Cyclops and Wolverine lead the X-Men against Magneto from Marvel Comics

X-Men: Mutant Genesis, by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee, was a new beginning for the X-Men. Chris Claremont's last X-Men story until the year 2000, this book set up the team for its new status quo, introducing the Blue Team iteration of the X-Men and pitting them against Magneto, along with his new servants the Acolytes.

Claremont went out with a bang on this one, serving up a fan favorite team in a struggle against Magneto in what is probably the best story featuring the Mutant Master of Magnetism. Jim Lee's art is some of the best of his career and gave the team new looks that would define them for the '90s.

2 New X-Men

The New X men Cover 2001

New X-Men, by writer Grant Morrison and a host of artists, took the X-Men into the 21st century. The forty issue run actually works out to be one long story about evolution and features things like Xavier's evil twin sister, a mutant population boom that brings new students to the Xavier Academy, a traitor within the team, and so much more.

Morrison brought his trademark style to the X-Men, presenting big ideas and boiling the X-Men down to their essence. Morrison layered so many little things through the book, linking it all together and giving readers twists and turns they'll never see coming, along with deft characterization and action. While Marvel erased much of what he did immediately after he went back to DC, seemingly out of spite, his work ended up informing the best X-Men stories of the 21st century.

1 Uncanny X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga

Dark Phoenix Saga Cyclops Jean Grey Marvel Girl

Uncanny X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga, by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne, is one of the most well-known X-Men stories of all time. Jean Grey gained the amazing power of the Phoenix Force but it proves to be too much for her, forcing her teammates to try and stop her before she does anything terrible... a mission they fail at.

The Dark Phoenix Saga introduces so many things to X-Men lore, like the Hellfire Club and Kitty Pryde, concepts that would pay dividends over the years. Claremont and Byrne kill it in this one, presenting a tale that is not only considered the best X-Men story of all time but one of the best comics of all time in general.

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